Rants and Ranks

I'm sure you're wondering what the title means.  Not too long ago I was listening to something that specifically pointed out that the wrestling quality in WWE from Summerslam 2002 through Wrestlemania XIX in March 2003 was arguably the greatest stretch of in-ring product WWE has ever produced.   I knew that that general era in WWE was good, but I never really looked at it using those bookends.  The more I thought about it, the more true it seemed.  Why was this the case? Was it a random series of events?  Did WWE finally get their heads out of their asses?  When I look back, it all makes perfect sense so I'm going to recap it for anyone who wasn't  watching, or just forgot.  If your a fan of good wrestling, odds are you remember a few of these matches quite fondly.  First we need the back story.  courtesy: wwe.com A ton of things happened in '02.  Hulk and the nWo returned.  Triple H returned from his qua...

Lottery: Definitely not worthy of the first pick.  1. Pervis Ellison 2. Danny Ferry 3. Sean Elliott 4. Glen Rice 5. J.R. Reid 6. Stacey King 7. George McCloud 8. Randy White 9. Tom Hammonds 10. Pooh Richardson 11. Nick Anderson 12. Mookie Blaylock 13. Michael Smith Remixed: 1. Tim Hardaway (14) 2. Shawn Kemp (17) 3. Glen Rice (4) 4. Vlade Divac (26) 5. Cliff Robinson (36) 6. Sean Elliott (3) 7. Mookie Blaylock (12) 8. B.J. Armstrong (18) 9. Nick Anderson (11) 10. Dana Barros (16) 11. Pervis Ellison (1) 12. Pooh Richardson (10) 13. Sherman Douglas (28) Some pretty iconic players from the 90's were draft this year.  Not too many people didn't love Shawn Kemp in mid-90's, myself included.  I loved watching that guy dunk.  For any younger readers, he was like Blake Griffin is today, but maybe even better.  Vlade was one of the first really successful European players in the NBA, who is most known now for being traded for Kobe on d...

The Spurs just capped off their 5th title win.  Not only did the beat the Heat, they did so in an impressive 4-1 fashion.  (3 of those wins were in spectacular fashion.) It was truly "the team vs. the player" series, and in this case the team won.  No sane person will deny LeBron's skills, even if you hate him.  He gave it his best, just his teammates fell up short.  Wade is... well if LeBron wasn't his teammate it's scary to think just how bad he would look.  Wade looks old now, and he's not even the focal point of the team!  Bosh was far and away the Heat's second best player, yet probably will never be recognized as such. After the Heat's disappointing 2011 loss to the Mavs they added Shane Battier to the mix, which paid off in the Finals.  Even after the 2012 win, they added Ray Allen the next off-season, who saved their ass in 2013 Finals.  What did they do in the 2013 off-season to spice up the bench?  Nothing.  Addi...

1999 NBA Draft Lottery: 1. Elton Brand 2. Steve Francis 3. Baron Davis 4. Lamar Odom 5. Jonathon Bender 6. Wally Szczerbiak 7. Richard Hamilton 8. Andre Miller 9. Shawn Marion 10. Jason Terry 11. Trajan Langdon 12. Aleksandar Radojevic 13. Corey Maggette Remixed: 1. Shawn Marion (9) 2. Elton Brand (1) 3. Manu Ginobili (57) 4. Baron Davis (3) 5. Richard Hamilton (7) 6. Lamar Odom (4) 7. Jason Terry (10) 8. Steve Francis (2) 9. Andre Miller (8) 10. Ron Artest (16) 11. Wally Szczerbiak (6) 12. Corey Maggette (13) 13. Andrei Kirilenko (24) If there was an award for the "greatest complimentary stars ever drafted" this draft takes the cake.  Shawn Marion has the most All-Star selections at 4, and even though he was a swiss army knife, he never was truly "the man" on his team.  Odom and Kirilenko were also both swiss army knives, neither could truly ascend to how talented they were.  Odom found his groove as a 6th man, while Kirilenko made o...

I'll freely admit it.  Even though we all know to not underestimate the Spurs, I thought after last season's exhausting Game 7 defeat in the Finals, I thought the Spurs may finally be out of gas.  After about 2 months into the season, I thought, "Fuck they might just do it again." Well here we are, and the Spurs are four wins away from making me and everyone else (outside of San Antonio of course) look stupid yet again.  They definitely have more of a chip on their shoulder now than ever before.  Timmy and Co. had never tasted defeat in the Finals before last year- and they almost pulled it out then against the juggernaut known as "The Heat."  Redeeming themselves with a championship trophy was a must for the Spurs; doing it against the Heat is just the icing on the cake. The Heat aren't going down without a fight though.  LeBron is pissed he didn't get his fifth (and Jordan-tying) MVP.  He wants his third ring, and get that elusive "three-p...